Sonic the Hedgehog 3 | |
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Directed by | Jeff Fowler |
Screenplay by | |
Story by |
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Based on | Sonic the Hedgehog by Sega [a] |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Brandon Trost |
Edited by | Al LeVine |
Music by | Tom Holkenborg |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 110 minutes [3] |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Budget | $122 million [4] |
Box office | $1.4 million [5] |
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 [b] is a 2024 action-adventure comedy film based on the video game series published by Sega. It was directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington, based on a story by Casey and Miller. Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, and Idris Elba reprise their roles, with Krysten Ritter and Keanu Reeves joining the cast. In the film, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles ally with Dr. Robotnik to defeat a new enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was announced in February 2022 during ViacomCBS's investor event before the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022). Due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, filming for animated characters began in July 2023 in Surrey, England, and filming with actors began that November in London, with production concluding by March 2024. The film draws inspiration from the video games Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). Reeves was cast due to the parallels between his performance in the John Wick films and Fowler's vision for Shadow.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 premiered at the Empire Leicester Square in London on December 10, 2024, and was theatrically released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on December 20. It received positive reviews, with praise for Carrey and Reeves' performances. A sequel is in development.
Off the coast of Japan, a secret G.U.N. prison facility's systems are hacked, awakening Shadow the Hedgehog from suspended animation and allowing him to escape. Elsewhere, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are celebrating the anniversary of Sonic's arrival on Earth with their adoptive parents Tom and Maddie Wachowski. G.U.N. Director Rockwell arrives and recruits the three, whom G.U.N. has dubbed "Team Sonic", to stop Shadow, who is causing chaos in Toyko.
Shadow easily overpowers the three in a fight and escapes. Looking for answers, they meet with G.U.N. Commander Walters, who informs them that in 1974, G.U.N. discovered Shadow in a meteorite, and used his power for various experiments. When things went wrong, the project leader was arrested, and Shadow placed into stasis. Suddenly, a group of Dr. Ivo Robotnik's drones arrive and fatally wound Walters; before he dies, Walters gives Sonic a digital keycard and warns him to keep it safe. Feeling they no longer know who to trust, Team Sonic vow to find Shadow without G.U.N.'s help. Robotnik's assistant, Agent Stone, reveals to the three that Robotnik is still alive and did not send the drones; they form an uneasy alliance with Robotnik and track the drones to an abandoned G.U.N. base.
At the base, Shadow reminisces about living with Maria, the project leader's granddaughter and his only friend. One night when they tried to escape the base, a G.U.N. agent accidentally set off an explosion, killing Maria and causing Shadow to lose all faith in humanity and seek revenge. Shadow captures Team Sonic, while Robotnik meets Project Shadow's director, his long lost grandfather Gerald Robotnik, who was imprisoned for the last fifty years.
Gerald explains that there are two keycards needed to activate a weapon he designed for G.U.N. called the Eclipse Cannon, an orbital laser that can target any location on Earth. Gerald intends to use it to destroy G.U.N.'s headquarters. Ivo joins Gerald, betraying Sonic. Shadow takes the keycard from Sonic and attempts to destroy the three, but they are able escape using a ring portal.
Team Sonic recruit Tom and Maddie to try and steal the other keycard from the G.U.N. headquarters in London. During the mission, Shadow gravely wounds Tom and gets the second keycard. Ivo, Gerald, and Shadow launch the Eclipse Cannon. Furious that Shadow nearly killed Tom, Sonic abandons Tails and Knuckles and steals the Master Emerald, turning into Super Sonic by using the seven Chaos Emeralds contained within.
Sonic rushes to the Eclipse Cannon, now hovering in space above Earth, and confronts Shadow. They engage in a battle, with Shadow also absorbing some of the Chaos Emerald energy. Sonic eventually overpowers Shadow before realizing he's gone too far and has given into revenge. Sonic speaks to Shadow of his loss of Longclaw years before, telling him that their love for the people they have lost is more important than revenge. Touched by the sentiment, Shadow apologizes for his actions and agrees to help Sonic stop the Eclipse Cannon.
Meanwhile, Gerald reveals to Ivo that he intends to use the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the entire planet in revenge for Maria's death. Preferring to conquer the Earth rather than destroy it, Ivo engages in a fight with Gerald. Tails and Knuckles arrive, and the three are able to knock Gerald into an energy field, vaporizing him. Together, Team Sonic, Shadow and Robotnik are able to deflect the canon away from Earth, though it slices off a part of the moon in the process. When the Eclipse Canon's core begins to melt down, Robotnik and Shadow sacrifice themselves to move the Eclipse Cannon out of Earth's range before it explodes.
On Earth, Sonic reconciles with Tails and Knuckles, and Tom recovers from his injuries. In a mid-credits scene, Sonic is confronted by an army of robotic versions of himself, but is saved by a female pink hedgehog. In a post-credits scene, Shadow is revealed to have survived the Eclipse Cannon's destruction.
Metal Sonic and Amy Rose make non-speaking cameo appearances in the mid-credits scene. Sofia Pernas and Cristo Fernández play Gabriella and Pablo/Juan, characters in a telenovela Robotnik watches. Jorma Taccone plays Kyle Lancebottom, a G.U.N. agent on Prison Island who watches over Shadow. [7]
In March 2020, James Marsden confirmed that he had signed on for multiple sequels to Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). [21] In February 2022, Sega Sammy Group and Paramount Pictures had been developing a third film after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022). It was formally announced during ViacomCBS's investor event. [22] Jeff Fowler returned as director, and Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, Toru Nakahara, and Hitoshi Okuno returned as producers. [23] Haruki Satomi, Shuji Utsumi, Yukio Sugino, Fowler, Tommy Gormley, and Tim Miller served as executive producers. [24] Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington returned to write the screenplay, with the former two also being credited for the story. [24] Paul Greenberg and Oren Uziel received off-screen additional literary material credit. [25] In addition, a spin-off television series for Paramount+, Knuckles , was developed simultaneously with the film. [22]
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 draws inspiration from the video games Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005). [26] [27] Among the elements from Sonic Adventure 2 incorporated were the fairy-like creatures the Chao. In this film, they are part of a Chao Gardens-themed restaurant in Tokyo, where Team Sonic and Shadow face off for the first time. Fowler felt utilizing the characters in a popular attraction was "very believable", and could be used as a plot device, such as when Team Sonic needed to have a moment to regroup and have a conversation about what was going on. [12]
In April 2022, Jim Carrey — who portrays Dr. Robotnik in the films—announced that he was considering retiring from acting. [28] With his possible retirement, Moritz and Ascher confirmed that his role as Robotnik would not be recast in any sequels if he followed through with his retirement plans. However, they remained hopeful that they could develop scripts good enough for him to continue the role. [29] Carrey conceded, requiring that "the angels bring some sort of script that's written in gold ink that says to me that it's going to be really important for people to see" if he were to continue. [30]
Second-unit filming began in late July 2023 for animated characters only without physical actors (due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike) in Farnham, Surrey, England. [33] Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin on August 31, 2023, in London, England, [34] [35] but was delayed to September. [36] Production with physical actors started on November 29, 2023, and was announced with a teaser image of Shadow the Hedgehog's stand-in statue used in filming. [37] Brandon Trost returns as cinematographer. [15] Luke Freeborn was production designer. [15]
In February 2024, Carrey was confirmed to be reprising his role. [23] Elaborating on his decision to sign on, he stated that "I came back to this universe because, first of all, I get to play a genius, which is a bit of a stretch. And, you know, it's just... I bought a lot of stuff and I need the money, frankly". [38] Fowler made note of Carrey's comments about a script of gold, printing it out in 24-carat ink, which Fowler says cost about $100,000. [31] [32] [39] Fowler said that asking Carrey to play the dual role of Ivo's grandfather Gerald was "such a big ask", and meant Carrey had to spend three hours in a makeup chair being physically prepared to play Gerald each time. [12] To write the role for Carrey, Fowler said they initially focused on parallels between his two characters, "not just with bald heads and giant mustaches, but also in their behavior and their attitude"; they then decided they needed to "create the right sort of conflict" for the film. [12] Carrey also helped design the prosthetics he wore. [39] While Carrey performed each role, actor Brendan Murphy doubled for the other character. [14] During each performance, Carrey informed Murphy how he would be doing the other, a system the former said was "very technically difficult", especially considering that he was interacting with a pre-recorded voice track of the opposite character during his performances. [14]
Additionally, Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Idris Elba, Lee Majdoub, and Tom Butler were confirmed to reprise their roles from the previous films. [7] Krysten Ritter, Alyla Browne, James Wolk, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, and Jorma Taccone were cast in undisclosed roles; [7] Taccone was previously hired as an episode director for the Knuckles series. [40] On February 16, Browne's role was revealed as Maria. [18] Schwartz began recording for the film by the week after. [41] As opposed to acting with a placeholder tennis ball in scenes with Shadow, Browne shot scenes with a Shadow puppet, with his puppeteers ad-libbing certain lines into the film. [20] Marsden said that filming had been completed by March 14, 2024, [42] while Fowler officially revealed that the film had wrapped production on March 29. [43]
On April 15, 2024, it was reported that Keanu Reeves had joined the cast as the voice of Shadow. [8] Fowler said there was an "obvious corollary" between Reeves's performance in the John Wick series and the "vibe we're trying to channel" for Shadow, and thus these films served as a "perfect, albeit unconventional, 'audition'" for the character. [46] Fowler said that Reeves "would just give us so many different versions of line readings and just want to keep going" during voice recording and said he put more into his performance than "just sort of showing up and reading the script into a microphone", both understanding their vision for the film and realizing his interpretation of Shadow; [11] Reeves was prepared with questions to give himself insight about what the team was trying to achieve. [12] Animation supervisor Clem Yip said Reeves's low-key, serious vocal performance informed their visual work. [20]
Fowler felt that the world did not become "edgy" with Shadow's character, but the tone the character brought was "a little bit more exciting, a little bit more dangerous". [12] He acknowledged the elements of firearms and Shadow's motorcycle in his eponymous 2005 video game, and said that they were "very respectful about what fans expect to see and what they love about the character", and that he and his team were "very aware of the times and the right way to handle that kind of imagery in a family film." [12] Fowler previously worked as an animator on Shadow's eponymous 2005 game, and felt honored to adapt the character for the screen. [47]
As a cost-cutting measure, the producers had an in-house animation team at Paramount work on both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and the Knuckles series. [48] Clem Yip serves as animation supervisor, [20] while Al LeVine serves as film editor. [15] Animation was produced by six studios: Rising Sun Pictures, Rodeo FX, Industrial Light & Magic, Fin, Marza Animation Planet and an in-house team at Paramount. [20] Fowler's team took a "speedboat vendor" strategy, dividing the animation work across these six studios. [20]
According to Ascher, the team "made an investment in the Sonic assets and [...] built them in-house," then distributed them to the vendors, which he noted was comparatively different from previous installments where "usually the vendor controls the assets that they rig". Owning the assets also allowed for their in-house team to work exclusively on Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles, and helped the production "keep costs down and move faster." [48] Fowler said that "if you have multiple vendors, you have multiple teams you have to bring up to speed, so initially there's an extra level of work that has to be done. But once you do that, because the work is spread out, you do have that opportunity to go back and say, 'Maybe we push this a little bit more or polish that performance a little bit more'". [20] Fowler emphasized the need for visual continuity between the projects and cited good communication as being key to achieving this. [48]
Tom Holkenborg, who composed the score for the first two Sonic films, returned to score Sonic the Hedgehog 3 [49] and had finished work by July 2024. [50] In December 2023, Crush 40 vocalist Johnny Gioeli said there had been talks of including "Live & Learn", the theme song from Sonic Adventure 2. [51] In February 2024, Gioeli confirmed "Live & Learn" would be included in the film. [52] Jelly Roll released a single for the film, titled "Run It", on November 21, 2024. [53] The film also features the song "Neon" from Japanese rock band One Ok Rock, who previously contributed to the soundtrack for the 2022 game Sonic Frontiers. [54] The soundtrack album will be released by Milan Records on December 20, 2024. [55]
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on December 16, 2024, [56] and is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States by Paramount Pictures on December 20, 2024, taking over the original release date of The Smurfs Movie (2025). [57] Paramount will hold a fan event on December 19 for early screenings at theaters in premium formats. [58] It will release on December 21 in the UK, and on December 26 in Australia. [59] Tickets went on sale on November 25, 2024. [60] [58]
In April 2024 at CinemaCon, Paramount showcased first-look footage of the film, which featured a heavier Robotnik bemoaning his current state before his assistant Agent Stone informs that "they found him", and Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles fighting a silent Shadow. [61] In July, a popcorn bucket and action figures produced by Jakks Pacific were leaked online. [62] On August 25, the first official tease of Keanu Reeves's involvement as Shadow was posted to the film's TikTok account, which referenced the actor's mention in the first film, captioned "foreSHADOWing". [63] Beginning at that time, images of the film's characters were projected on buildings in locations globally in promotion of the film's first trailer, [64] which released on August 27 alongside a teaser poster. [65] Reeves's role was considered the most prominent feature in the trailer. [9] [66] [67] IGN observed that "Keanu Reeves is very much in Keanu Reeves mode here", [68] and Vulture likened the actor's moody and vengeful portrayal of Shadow to a John Wick performance. [69] Both Ash Parrish of The Verge and Paul Tassi of Forbes agreed that Reeves's voice was satisfactory, and Parrish also noted Maria's reveal, anticipating how the film would adapt her fate. [19] [9]
On the opening weekend of Paramount's Transformers One , posters of Shadow were raffled to the first 300 attendees at select theaters, with Reeves signing a limited quantity of them. [70] In commemoration of Halloween, a 10-second clip from the film of Shadow saying "boo" was posted on social media. [71] On November 4, a promotional still image of Shadow was released by Fandango. [72] On November 18, a new poster was released, featuring the main team, the Robotniks, and Shadow, who looms above the cast at the top and also rides his Dark Rider motorcycle at the bottom. [73] Several press outlets were also sent a Sega Genesis cartridge containing promotional posters and voice lines from the characters, as well as a minigame through which the date for the film's second trailer could be unlocked by inputting a cheat code from the game Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994); ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑
. [74] The trailer was released on November 25. Commentary focused on Shadow's use of a gun in one scene, considering the prominence of firearms in Shadow's self-titled game and Sega's subsequent disownment, [75] [76] [77] as well as Tails being mistaken for the Pokémon character Pikachu. [75] [78] The phrases "HE HAS A GUN" and "HE PISSED ON THE MOON" began trending on social media following the trailer's release, with the latter being a reference to the popular web series SnapCube's Real-Time Fandub . [77]
By October, the Jakks Pacific toy merchandise was released. [79] The shoe company Reebok produced a tie-in line of sneakers in promotion for the film, [80] and McDonald's will sell Happy Meal toys of the film's characters. [81] AMC Theaters produced a novelty popcorn bucket of Sonic's head and a collectible combo of a cup, drink topper, and a mask. [82] On December 11, 2024, Paramount also released several posters parodying Christmas films such as National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation , Home Alone , the 2000 adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (which also starred Carrey), Elf , Love Actually , Scrooged , A Christmas Story , Four Christmases , Die Hard , and The Nightmare Before Christmas . [83] The original "Ugly Sonic" design from the first film that received backlash was featured as a sweater design that would be given away as a prize along with a chance to win a ticket to see the Los Angeles premiere of the movie for Paramount's "12 Hours of Sonic" giveaway promotion. [84] [85] A stop-motion short titled A Very Sonic Christmas was released on December 11, 2024, with Schwartz, Elba, O'Shaughnessey, and Reeves reprising their roles, and Wade Whipple actor Adam Pally voicing Santa Claus. [86]
In preparation for the movie, Sonic Team developed the video game Shadow Generations as a soft tie-in, with Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka stating that he wanted to "spotlight Shadow as a character" alongside the movie. [87] The title was released in October 2024, and additional downloadable content based on the film was released on December 12. The "Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Movie Pack" DLC includes an additional level set in Tokyo, as it appears in the film; during the level, Shadow's appearance changes to resemble his movie counterpart, with Reeves reprising his voice role for the downloadable content. [88] [89] Reeves and Fowler gave an interview on CBS Mornings to promote the film. [90]
In the United States and Canada, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be released alongside Mufasa: The Lion King , and is projected to gross $55–60 million from 3,800 theaters. [4]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 87% of 69 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10.The website's consensus reads: "With a double helping of Jim Carrey's antics and a quicksilver pace befitting its hero, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is the best entry in this amiable series yet." [91] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [92]
Variety 's Owen Gleiberman said that Reeves's "tones of deepest resonance" made Shadow empathetic to the audience, and that Jim Carrey topped his previous work with his roles as the Robotniks. Gleiberman said that Fowler's filmmaking was the real star of the show. [93] Deadline Hollywood felt Fowler's grandeur was in excess, though admitted that audiences would not find this a problem. It said while Carrey's fourth wall breaking was not as impactful given Ryan Reynolds's exceeding success with Deadpool, Sonic was lovable and Elba delivered Knuckles's performance well. [94] Screen Rant named Reeves's Shadow the standout of the film, saying Fowler succeeded in expressing Shadow's story in an emotional and engaging way, and that Reeves was brilliant at conveying the character's "hurt and steel". [95] ComicBook.com 's Marc Deschamps wrote that Reeves perfectly portrayed Shadow, with his brooding and darkness mixed well with the film's humor. He said while the Robotniks largely served as comic relief, their relationship also contextualized Ivo and Agent Stone's characters, and that the film made a great ending for Ivo. [96]
The A.V. Club 's Matt Donato said that Fowler's direction made the lore in the film "digestible", and that the animation was executed successfully and uniformly such that one could not tell there were six separate studios working on the project. Of Reeves and Carrey, Donato noted Reeves added "stoic somberness" to the established cast and Carrey's doubling up of the "looniness". [97] The Hollywood Reporter observed success with fans, and said that Reeves brought the same gravitas to Shadow that he did to John Wick, feeling his delivery of "quiet condescension" made him "all the scarier for the lack of overt menace". It praised Carrey's jokes yet questioned the returning human characters, and said that while not "sophisticated entertainment", that was not what would be successful with audiences. [98] A. A. Dowd of IGN gave the film a positive review, and praised the film's CGI and Jim Carrey's performance. He also noted the film's omissions of what he perceived as the "dopey buddy comedy" of the first film and the "tiresome pop-culture references" of the second film. [99]
IndieWire was sharply critical of the film, finding the script "asinine" and detailing about how the Detroit Lions players Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery being nicknamed "Sonic and Knuckles" was "jump[ed] on" by the Paramount marketing division to promote Sonic 3, using this as an example of the film's "semi-organic" marketing. [100] Polygon said Carrey's "gloriously deranged one-man, two-character musical" contrasted sharply with Reeves's "utter sincerity", and that the actor made Shadow a "weirdly likable little ball of pain". [101] Forbes said the film was mostly briskly paced save for an intermission between acts two and three, described as "full of fan service". It said that the film was straightforward and simple, but not particularly excelling, though praise was given to the third act. [102] The Guardian was ambivalent about Elba and Reeves's performances and criticized Marsden and Sumpter's chemistry, but gave praise to Carrey as his role was valuable. [59]
In September 2024, producer Toby Ascher stated intent for additional Sonic films. [103] Elba and Reeves have expressed interest in a spin-off starring their characters. [104] In December 2024, a fourth Sonic film entered development and is set to be released in early 2027. [105]
Sonic the Hedgehog is a character created by the Japanese game developers Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima. He is the star of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Sega. Sonic is an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who can run at supersonic speed. He races through levels, collecting rings and avoiding obstacles, as he seeks to defeat his archenemy, Doctor Eggman. He is accompanied by supporting characters, such as his best friend and sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower, self-proclaimed girlfriend Amy Rose, and friendly rival Knuckles the Echidna.
Knuckles the Echidna is a character from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series. He is a red anthropomorphic short-beaked echidna who is Sonic's secondary best friend and former rival. Determined and serious, but sometimes gullible, he fights his enemies using brute force and strength. His role is established as the guardian of the Master Emerald, a large gemstone which controls the series' integral Chaos Emeralds, and is the last living member of his tribe, the Knuckles Clan.
Miles "Tails" Prower is a character created by Japanese game designer Yasushi Yamaguchi. Part of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, he is the first character to consistently appear by Sonic's side in the series, appearing in nearly every mainline and spin-off game since his debut. His role as Sonic's best friend and sidekick is analogous to Luigi from the Mario series. The name "Miles Prower" is a pun on "miles per hour", a reference to the famed speed of Sonic the Hedgehog. Prower is a two-tailed anthropomorphic fox cub, hence the nickname.
Shadow the Hedgehog is a character created by the Japanese game developers Takashi Iizuka, Shiro Maekawa, and Kazuyuki Hoshino. He is a major character in Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Shadow is an anthropomorphic black hedgehog created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, the grandfather of Doctor Eggman. Shadow shares design traits and attributes with Sonic the Hedgehog. He is an antihero who has good intentions but will do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals, putting him at odds with Sonic.
Sonic the Hedgehog is an animated television series that aired from 1993 to 1994 based on Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise. It was produced by DIC Productions, Sega of America, and the Italian studio Reteitalia in association with Telecinco, and is the second of DIC's Sonic cartoons, following Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. To distinguish it from other Sonic media, fans commonly refer to the series as "Sonic SatAM", in reference to its Saturday morning timeslot.
Sonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Sega. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog or Knuckles the Echidna in their quests to save Angel Island; Sonic tries to stop Doctor Robotnik from re-launching his orbital weapon, the Death Egg, while Knuckles scuffles with Robotnik's minion, EggRobo. Like previous Sonic games, players traverse side-scrolling levels at high speeds while collecting rings and defeating enemies.
Knuckles' Chaotix is a 1995 platform game developed by Sega for the 32X. A spin-off from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, it features Knuckles the Echidna and four other characters known as the Chaotix, who must prevent Doctor Robotnik and Metal Sonic from obtaining six magic rings and conquering a mysterious island. The gameplay is similar to previous Sonic games: players complete levels while collecting rings and defeating enemies. Knuckles' Chaotix introduces a partner system whereby the player is connected to another character via a tether; the tether behaves like a rubber band and must be used to maneuver the characters.
Sonic the Hedgehog is an American comic book series published by Archie Comics, in partnership with Sega. Although this continuity was based on Sega's video game franchise, it had much more in nature with the American 1993 animated series of the same name. After initially beginning with a four-issue miniseries from February to May 1993, the first full-length issue of the comic was published in July 1993. The series ran for 290 issues for over 20 years, earning a place in the 2008 Guinness World Records for being the "longest-running comic series based on a video game" in U.S. history.. It became the longest-running franchise-based comic series in 2015 before it was confirmed cancelled in July 2017, following Sega and Archie Comics' decision to discontinue their business relationship. The series features a cast of hundreds of characters, consisting of both those derived from the Sonic games and those original to the comics, with stories focused on a crime-fighting organization called the Freedom Fighters, led by Sonic, as they face off against series antagonist Doctor Eggman alongside a variety of other villains.
Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic the Hedgehog the Movie, is a two-part 1996 Japanese original video animation (OVA) based on the video game franchise by Sega. Produced by Pierrot and directed by Kazutaka Ikegami, it was released in Japan on January 26, 1996 and March 22, 1996.
Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main Sonic the Hedgehog games are platformers mostly developed by Sonic Team; other games, developed by various studios, include spin-offs in the racing, fighting, party and sports genres. The franchise also incorporates printed media, animations, feature films, and merchandise.
Knuckles the Echidna, originally published as Knuckles: The Dark Legion, is an action-adventure comic book series published by Archie Comics. The series starred Knuckles the Echidna, a main character from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games. The book was a spin-off of Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog, with both series sharing narrative continuity. The series served as a successor to Sonic's Friendly Nemesis: Knuckles, a three-issue limited series from 1996. Knuckles was almost exclusively written by Ken Penders, the former lead writer of Sonic.
Doctor Ivo"Eggman"Robotnik is a character created by the Japanese game designer Naoto Ohshima. He is the main antagonist of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Eggman is a mad scientist who seeks to steal the mystical Chaos Emeralds, defeat Sonic the Hedgehog, and conquer the world. Eggman and his "Badnik" brand of military robots serve as bosses and enemies in the Sonic platform games. His distinctive characteristics include his red-black-yellow clothing, baldness, pince-nez sunglasses, and large mustache.
Timothy Miller is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing the films Deadpool (2016) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). He is also the creator of the animated anthology series Love, Death & Robots (2019–present), for which he has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program.
Sonic the Hedgehog is a 2020 action-adventure comedy film based on the video game series published by Sega. It was directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller, and stars James Marsden and Jim Carrey. Ben Schwartz voices Sonic, a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who runs at supersonic speeds and teams up with a town sheriff to stop the mad scientist Dr. Robotnik.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 2022 action-adventure comedy film based on the video game series published by Sega. It was directed by Jeff Fowler and written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington, based on a story by Casey and Miller. Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, and Jim Carrey reprise their roles, with Idris Elba joining the cast. In the film, Sonic and Tails must find the Master Emerald before their nemesis Dr. Robotnik (Eggman) and his partner Knuckles the Echidna.
Knuckles is an American television series created by John Whittington and Toby Ascher for the streaming service Paramount+, based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series published by Sega. It is a spin-off of the Sonic the Hedgehog film series and the first live-action Sonic television series. The series serves as a bridge between the events of the films Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024), and follows Knuckles the Echidna as he trains deputy sheriff Wade Whipple in the ways of the Echidna warrior. Whittington was head writer, with Ascher as showrunner.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Music from the Motion Picture is the score album for the 2024 film of the same name. It features the original score composed by Tom Holkenborg and will be released by Milan Records on December 20, 2024.
according to screenwriters Pat Casey and Josh Miller, the third Sonic movie has taken great inspiration from the video games Sonic Adventures 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog